The Indian population in Indonesia, i.e., people of Indian origin including expatriates is 50,000/ (as per the embassy).
The Expatriate Indians which are estimated to be around 5000, although only 500 are registered at the embassy are involved in all industries and areas work from IT professionals, consultants, financial managers, engineers, etc all highly skilled and qualified.
The Indians like to live in Indonesia, as it is a very friendly and warm country. The stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata are similar and traditional family values and ties are important just like those in India. People are social with strong community ties and tend to group functions around religious festivals and events such as Deepawali, Holi etc
Temples provide a great venue for these community events and the Shiva temple in Pluit is popular for Monday evening prayers to Lord Shiva. Other temples are the Sai Mandir and Gurudwara in Pasar Baru, and the Hare Krishna Temple in Bogor.
Many Indians are vegetarian and so like to have familiar Indian food. Indian grocery stores in Sunter and Pasar baru supply all the basic needs of the Indian and are home delivered. Many Indian restaurants are also found in Jakarta. The most popular ones are Queens and Haveli.
The Indian cultural center provides classical dance, music and yoga lessons and other private Indian teachers also fulfill this need.
